I did it, Love
by kRieZt
Summary: Gilbert made a challenge for Lucia and himself. They must not send letters for one whole week. Would they be able to pass through it? Prussia x Fem!sweden


**I did it, Love…**

Cast : Germany, Prussia, Fem!Sweden

Summary : Gilbert made a challenge for Lucia and himself. They must not send letters for one whole week. Would they be able to pass through it?

Disclaimer : all characters belong to Hidekazu-sensei

Warning : this story is about Prussia/Fem!Sweden. I don't even know Fem!Sweden's real name. If you don't like this pairing, then don't read!

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><p>Gilbert Beilschmidt sat on a bench in a city garden. He looked at his watch. It was 10.00 am and he had been sitting there for 15 minutes. He was waiting for someone that had promised to meet him today.<p>

He was not alone there. His brother, Ludwig Weillschmidt, was standing behind the chair. Under the tree, both of them waited for that person to come.

"Are you sure she will come, Bruder?" Ludwig said as he looked at his watch, just like his brother did.

"She won't break her promise to me, Ludwig," Gilbert answered it firmly. "And the awesome me knows that better."

"I just hope that she would make it on time," Ludwig sighed. He wasn't complaining. He just didn't want to see his brother being too tired waiting for so long.

They spent 30 minutes for chatting. Then from their left, they saw someone coming towards them. With the help of his little brother, Gilbert managed to stand up and greet this beautiful lady. He reached out his hand to pull the lady into his embrace.

"I've been waiting for you, Lucia," he said into the long hair.

The lady didn't answer even a word. She only nodded, and hugged Gilbert back tightly. She could feel Gilbert caressing her hair, trying to fix her messy-long hair because of the wind blow.

"Are you tired, Love?" Gilbert asked, as he led Lucia to sit beside him on the bench.

"No," she simply answered. This lady was not as talkative as Gilbert.

"Did your brother scold you again before you off to Germany?"

The ladyonly shook her head. And Gilbert smiled seeing this. This lady came from far distance. He had been waiting for a long time to see Lucia Oxenstierna, a beautiful lady from Sweden. He had loved this lady ever since they met in the war. After so many years they were apart, today in autumn, they met again.

"Let's go," Gilbert offered his hand, and the lady took his hand as they walked towards the car. Ludwig stood there, waiting for his brother and the lady to enter the car. He then opened the door for the lady first.

"Would you mind if I sit beside Ludwig, Lucia?" Gilbert asked before he entered the car. And he got head-shake as an answer. "Fine, I'll be sitting in front."

The car brought these people to Gilbert's house. It was not so far from the center city, they only needed 10 minutes to reach the house. Once they are arrived, Gilbert stepped out from the car and opened the door for Lucia. He offered his hand and the lady took it as she stepped out from the car.

Lucia missed everything in this house. It's been a while…no, it's been so long that she never came here again. She would never forget every second she spent here, with her beloved warrior, Gilbert Beilschmidt.

"I'll go prepare the lunch for us, Bruder. Would you mind serving the tea by yourself?" Ludwig asked, as they entered the living room.

"Don't mind us, Ludwig," Gilbert said. "Go prepare the lunch. Make something special, OK?" Ludwig nodded. Then he left his brother and the lady in the living room.

"I'll serve the tea for us, Gilbert," Lucia got up from her seat, but Gilbert denied her by taking her hand and told her to sit back. "You are my guest," he said. "Sit back and I'll do it for you."

Gilbert did this just because he didn't want to bother Lucia to do anything. He'd serve everything for his lady, his beloved lady…

"So, how are you doing?" Gilbert asked, while he poured a spoon of sugar into Lucia's tea. "How is your brother?"

"Fine," Lucia answered shortly.

"I received your mails. Thanks a lot for sending me those. Though we live in a modern era, but we still enjoy getting connected with letters," he smiled.

"I love writing letters," she said as she took the tea cup from Gilbert.

"And I love reading letters from you, Lucia."

This couple had a unique story. They knew they loved each other. But the word of "Love" had never been mentioned. They never wanted to show their feelings by words. They showed it in actions. Gilbert had known so many girls in his life, but Lucia was different. This beautiful lady had caught his attention since the Swedish War. Lucia was the only female warrior that led hundreds of Swedish soldier.

"Show me the wounds."

Lucia opened her gloves and showed her wounds to Gilbert. These wounds were caused by the big sword that Lucia used during the war. She was so strong that she was able to swing the big sword towards her enemies. Never knowing nor realizing how heavy the sword was, she kept fighting to defend the land named Pomerania, Sweden territory in northern Germany.

"If these wounds won't heal, how can I put the ring on your finger, Lucia?" Gilbert said playfully, as he caressed Lucia's fingers gently.

"What ring?" she asked curiously.

"The wedding ring, of course!" he said that loudly, and then he got smacked on the forehead with the gloves. "What? Don't you want me to marry you, Darla?"

"You've said that million times," she was annoyed. "And that is your cheapest joke ever, Gilbert."

"Hey, I never am joking about that, Lucia. You know that I have proposed this to you since that war. But then your brother declined my proposal just because I was the enemy. Oh, he might not know that I was that awesome for a beautiful lady like you, Lucia. He'll regret to reject my awesome proposal! Kesesese~"

"I don't understand you at all, Gilbert," Lucia snorted, as she sipped the tea. "Never talk about that again, will you?"

"Can't," Gilbert said shortly. "But well, I don't want to disappoint my special guest today. Let's talk about something else."

For Gilbert, one of the biggest challenges to win Lucia's heart was to face her big brother. Until now, Gilbert still didn't know how to talk with that stoic man. Berwald Oxenstierna took very good care of his little sister, and he would decline anyone's proposals to marry her.

"So now," he continued. "You both resigned from military department, haven't you?"

"Yes," she answered. "We don't want to be involved in military anymore."

"I, too, don't want to be involved in military. After unification of Germany, Ludwig and I had resigned from military department. I have been too tired to be involved in such a war. I caused a big damage in my life, and also my little brother's life."

"He was still a little kid when I came here for the first time," she tried to remember some old memories. "That little kid now has grown a lot. I was surprised to see him as an adult man."

"You helped me a lot to take care of him, Lucia," he said as he touched Lucia's long hair. He loved to play with it.

"You've changed a lot, Gilbert," she said.

"Do you think so?"

Lucia changed her seat position so that she could see Gilbert's in a better way. She removed the hair on Gilbert's forehead and then she touched his cheek.

"You're pale. Are you sick?" she asked.

"Should I answer this question?" he asked back with a grin.

"Yes or I will kill you if you don't give me any answer!"

Gilbert laughed at that. He pulled this beautiful lady into his embrace. He placed a kiss on Lucia's head, trying to calm her.

"I'm fine, Lucia. I'm not sick. Maybe I'm getting older so that I look pale to you," he said while caressing Lucia's hair.

Lucia rested her head on Gilbert chest, feeling the calm of being held by her beloved warrior. "I wish we could get connected everyday so that I know a lot about you."

"Me too," Gilbert said. "The wars and other business have drifted my mind away to think about you. I almost drown our memories by having myself busy to do lot of things for nothing."

"Were my letters not enough for you, Gilbert?" she asked sadly.

"No, Dear. It's not like that. I'm happy to receive so many letters from you. I love to read every story you write on those papers. But…"

The lady stared Gilbert with her puppy eyes. This caused Gilbert placed a kiss on her forehead. He didn't want to make Lucia worried about his guilty feeling.

They sent letters to each other very often. Since they lived through the wars, they never stop to get contacted by sending letters. Lucia would always be the first to send letters. Then Gilbert sent some replies to her. But since Germany was entering a very critical condition, Gilbert started to send letters rarely. He was so sad that he couldn't reply those letters very often like in the past.

And Lucia would be a very patient person to wait every reply from Gilbert. She understood the condition that time. She didn't want to bother Gilbert with her letters, so that's why she did the same. She didn't send letters very often to Gilbert.

They almost lost their ideas to keep contact….

Lucia thought Gilbert had forgotten about her…

So did Gilbert think the same way, too…

"I'm glad you came, Lucia," he said with a faint smile. The lady nodded, then she buried her face again to Gilbert's chest. "Will you forgive me for not replying lately?" And she nodded again.

"Will you stay for days this time, Dear?" Gilbert asked. He couldn't stop playing Lucia's long hair.

"I guess I won't," she answered, without looking at Gilbert's eyes. She was afraid to have an eye contact with that silver-haired man. "I promised to Berwald that I would be back in one day."

"Then you will stay here until tomorrow, right?"

"No. I'll be back tonight."

"Why is it always like this? You come and leave in one day. Then we have to wait for a long time to meet again," Gilbert felt annoyed this time.

Lucia couldn't raise her head to face Gilbert. It was not only Gilbert who felt that way. She, too, felt the same. She tried to pursue his brother to allow her stay at Germany for at least one week to see Gilbert. But her brother didn't allow her to stay that long. Or, her brother would fly from Stockholm to take her back to their country.

"How can you stand in this long distance relationship, Darling? Don't you miss me?" Gilbert asked.

"Hn," she nodded, trying her best to hide her blushing face.

"Stay with me, OK?" this time, Gilbert held her hand firmly.

"I can't," her voice was trembling when saying this.

"Then you will accept one challenge from me. Look at me in the eye, Lucia."

Gilbert cupped Lucia's chin and their eyes met now. Lucia's heart beat a bit faster. She almost held her breathe. She didn't know what challenge she would get from this man.

"Let's prove our love," Gilbert said in instant.

"How?" Lucia asked, she looked puzzled.

"We haven't seen each other for long time. But we are still connected, right? I wonder if you could live without doing any contact with me."

"…" she didn't know what to say.

"Let's not send letters for one whole week, Lucia."

"One…whole week?"

"Yes. And we have to start it tomorrow. No, we have to start it right after you leave Germany. When you are arrived to Stockholm, you are not allowed to tell me anything. This challenge is not only for you. But this is also for me, Darla."

In the end of his words, Gilbert placed a kiss on Lucia's forehead. He didn't want to frighten his lady. He knew Lucia was brave. He knew his lady would pass through the challenge. And he wouldn't let her to pass this by herself. They would do it together. It hurt him, and he knew this challenge hurt Lucia too.

"Once we pass the challenge, let's say 'I love you' together," he said in a calm tone.

"Gilbert…" Lucia almost cried.

"We never say that, right?" this time, he grabbed both of Lucia's cheeks and pulled that beautiful face close to him.

"I'm afraid…I can't…" her voice was trembling.

"Yes, we can do it. You are not alone. You are doing it with me. Together, we can make it. After that, I'll fly to your country and tell your brother that I love you so much."

"Please…" she held those hands that held her cheeks.

"Say you can do it."

She couldn't give any answer. She shook her head for the first time. Gilbert gave a close look for her, begging for the answer. Her tears then flew on her face while she nodded for agreement. She felt her heart was that heavy to say 'yes'. She didn't know whether she could make it or not.

Gilbert held her tight to support her. He whispered to her ear, "Thank you. Let's make it together…"

Right after they finished their talk, Ludwig had finished preparing the lunch. He also had set up the table in the backyard. Today's lunch would be great, would be complete because Lucia was there for Gilbert.

Time passed, and it was almost the time for Lucia to go home…

Gilbert pouted like a little child to know his lady would go home. He refused to talk or gave a slight smile to say goodbye. He hated to say goodbye, he hated any goodbyes from Lucia.

"I'll be back again, Gilbert," she said in a calm tone, holding Gilbert's hand in order to cheer him up.

"You will be back again to me right after we finish the challenge. And that's the deal. I don't want to hear any excuses again from you, Lucia," he said seriously.

Lucia smiled, and placed a kiss on Gilbert's forehead. Gilbert couldn't release his grip on Lucia's hand. He didn't want Lucia to leave him. But then again he had no choice. He let her go this time.

The house then became quiet…

"I want to go to my bedroom. I'm tired, Ludwig," he said to his little brother.

"Don't forget to drink your medicine, Bruder," Ludwig reminded.

Nobody knew that Gilbert had been suffering a serious illness. After he was freed from East Germany, his body became so weak and Ludwig decided to bring his brother to hospital. The examination result said that there was something attacking Gilbert's brain membrane. For almost one year he lived with this illness, Gilbert tried his best to ignore it. He realized he was not as strong as he was to fight against his condition.

He was sad, and so as his little brother. When Lucia asked whether he was sick, he had lied to her. He didn't want Lucia to be sad to hear he was sick. He didn't want to see any tears flew on her cheeks. That's why he lied to his beloved lady.

He didn't want Lucia know this…

"I wish I could live longer, Ludwig," he said as he slipped under the blanket. His little brother helped him to pull the blanket to him.

"Why do you have to say that, Bruder?" he asked.

"I want to see you happy in the future. And I want to marry Lucia."

Ludwig remained quiet to this. He turned off the light and left his brother to sleep. As he closed the door behind him, he burst out his tears and buried his face into his palm.

-000-

One week later…

Lucia Oxenstierna was on her way to Berlin, Germany. She brought a box filled with Lussekatter, Swedish sweet breads. These breads were Gilbert's favorite food. She wanted to give this to Gilbert to show that she could pass the challenge.

She managed to live one whole week without giving any contact to Gilbert. No phone calls, no messages, no letters or emails. Though she used to be a patient woman, she almost lost her mind because of this challenge. This was too much for her. She spent one whole day with helping her brother did some cravings. Until she got bored, she then burst out her feeling emotionally to his brother just like a girl during her period.

Her brother then allowed her to fly to Germany for once again. And this time, also, he allowed her to stay there for 2 days. This pleased Lucia very much…

After her plane landed, she took a taxi to bring her to Gilbert's house. Around 30 minutes later, she arrived and ran into Gilbert's house. But then, right after she reached the front gate, she stopped.

She saw a lot of cars were being parked in front of Gilbert's house. A lot of people were seen too on Gilbert's front yard. Was Gilbert holding a party or was he celebrating something? What party was that? What celebration was that? And why everybody wore black?

She doubted it, but then she forced herself to enter the house. There were a lot of people, but these people didn't talk much or even so loud. She looked around. She hoped nobody would consider her strange because she wore different clothes from others.

"Miss Lucia?" someone was calling her.

She turned her had to her back, and she found Ludwig staring at her. She approached the blonde man and tried her best not to act weird in front of him.

"Why is everybody here?" she asked.

"Did you pass your challenge?" Ludwig asked back. This time, it made Lucia more confused.

"Y-yes, of course…" she answered. Her voice was trembling. "I did it. No contacts for one whole week."

Ludwig didn't say anything after that. He offered his hand and the lady took his hand to follow him to somewhere in this house. She then realized that Ludwig brought her to a room that seemed private.

The room was filled with 4 priests and one coffin. She blinked several times to make sure that she didn't see the wrong thing. It was a coffin in that room. She felt her body was shaking. She stopped walking. She held Ludwig's hand firmly.

"What is it, Miss Lucia?" Ludwig asked in surprise.

"What is this all about?" she asked.

"You have to see him. Because he wants to see you too, Miss Lucia."

Ludwig pulled her hand gently, led her closer to the coffin. Right after she reached the side of the coffin, her jaw dropped and her tears began to flow on her face.

"No…"

Gilbert Beilschmidt was lying there in peace. He wore the Old Prussian Priest cloak. His hands were holding a symbol of Prussian Knight, the black cross. His body was surrounded by some flowers.

"My Prince…"

She gripped the side board of the coffin, tried her best to stand to see her beloved warrior lied there without showing any signs of life. She couldn't hold back her tears. She wanted to cry loud.

"I did it, Love," she sobbed. "I did it, I passed your challenge. But why…"

Ludwig didn't dare to take this beautiful lady away from the coffin. But then he held her shoulders and whisper to her ears, "Let's go. Let's have a talk outside…"

"No!" she refused. "No! I want to be here! Please don't take me away from him, Ludwig!"

"Please don't struggle, My Lady. Let's talk somewhere else."

"No…no…" she was too weak to struggle.

And finally she allowed Ludwig to bring her somewhere else. Ludwig brought her to backyard so that they could talk without anyone interrupting. Before they started to talk, Ludwig quickly went in to the house to take a glass of water for Lucia. Once he came back, he gave the water to Lucia and then the lady drank it.

"Calm yourself, Miss Lucia. You have to hear this," he said.

"What's going on, Ludwig? Why didn't you tell me this?" she asked, still in tears.

"First, I want to say congratulations that you have passed the challenge he gave to you before you left him. Not only you, but my brother also did his best to pass the challenge. I knew that he almost lost his mind to lose contact with you. He couldn't get enough sleep just because he couldn't stop to think about you, Miss Lucia."

"But why…"

"He passed away this morning. He had suffered from a serious illness that he got a year ago. Right after he was set free from East Germany. And in his very last breathe, he wrote this. While you read his small note, please hear me explain his condition."

Ludwig pulled out a small piece of paper from his suit pocket. He handed the paper to Lucia and the lady open that folded paper. Carefully, she read the contents. She also made herself ready to hear Ludwig's explanation.

"Something has attacked his brain membrane. He almost lost his ability to walk, to grip, to stand or even sit. He refused any kind of medications. He refused to be hospitalized. But then he managed to surpass this illness so that we never know that he was that sick."

Between Ludwig's words, Lucia's hand was shaking to hold that small note. Her eyes wide opened, her lips parted, no words came out from her lips. She shook her head a little.

"The final result of his examination said that he would have only one year left to live. And this morning…was his final day," Ludwig sighed while he said his last words.

"Why didn't he say this earlier? Why did he lie to me?" she started to cry. "Why, Ludwig?"

She squeezed the small piece of paper on her hand, couldn't hold back her emotions so that she burst it out with her tears. She felt more pain in her heart. She felt dizzy as she drowned her face to her palms. She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout.

"So this challenge is…" she muttered in her cry.

"A beginning for you to live without him anymore, Miss Lucia," Ludwig answered sadly.

"Do you know how hard to keep this long distance relationship, Ludwig?"

"Yes, I know."

She wiped her tears though the sparkling water wouldn't stop flowing on her face. "I was about to lose my mind to have no contact with him. We've been apart by land and sea, and now we are apart by different worlds," she said, tried her best not to bawl. "For this one year, he never talked about his illness."

"That's because he loved you so much, Miss Lucia," Ludwig said. "He didn't want to see you sad. He didn't want to see you in tears. He didn't want to make you worried."

"No…no…" she couldn't say anything.

"I believe that small note can give you a little explanation about his feeling towards you, My Lady. Though my brother had lied about his illness, but he never lied about his feeling."

Lucia opened her hand to see the small note for once again. Her tears flew even more this time. She squeezed that small note again in her hand. Seeing this, Ludwig then placed his hand on Lucia's shoulder. Though she didn't respond, at least he had tried to comfort this lady. This also would be done by Gilbert if he saw Lucia was sad.

"My brother loves you very much, Miss Lucia," he said, as he pulled Lucia's shoulder close to him. "Just like he said on his note."

"I'm sorry, Ludwig," Lucia said, sniffing. "I'm sorry for not being on his side when he faced his final hour. I'm sorry I can't make him happy until his very last breathe. I'm terribly sorry…"

"Please don't cry…" Ludwig carefully pulled Lucia's glasses to wipe her tears. "Instead of tears, show him your smile."

To praise this beautiful lady, Ludwig lifted her face with both of his hand. He wiped the tears once again and gave Lucia his smile. "Please smile for my brother."

"Will he see me if I smile to him, Ludwig?" she asked.

"Yes, he will see you, My Lady."

"Will he be happy?" she almost lost control.

"Yes, he will be very happy to see your smile."

"I'm sorry, Ludwig…I'm sorry…" she cried even more now.

"I'm begging you not to cry anymore. If you want to make him happy for once again, smile like there's no more sadness. You are a very beautiful lady. My brother is a very lucky man to have a beautiful lady in his life."

"Gilbert…Gilbert…oh…"

"Smile, My Lady…Give him your brightest and sweetest smile…"

Ludwig dared himself to place a kiss on Lucia's forehead in order to comfort this lady. He hoped that Lucia would stop crying, wipe her tears, and erase her teary face with her bright smile. After he saw Lucia little bit calm, he took this lady back to the coffin. Lucia gave her final honor to his beloved warrior by bending her legs and raised her skirt just like a princess. One of her hand was crossed on her chest.

"I did it, I made it, Love. And I'm glad you have made it too. I love you and thank you for loving me back, My Prince…"

The small note that Lucia held was read _'We made it together, Love. I'm very happy to have you in my life. I love you, My Princess…'_

~the end~

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><p>AN : finally, I dare myself to write this story. I love Prussia and Fem!Sweden. And I love crackies XDD thanks for Lawliet to do some corrections. I admit my English is not that good :(


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